Backdraft creates fireball that sends firefighters flying

Firefighters were called to the house at 2304 Prima Way in the Country Club Estates subdivision around 8:45 p.m. Sunday. A person who saw the flames leaping from the attached garage called 911, saying three people might be trapped inside the two-story single-family home, fire department spokesman Mark Brady said.

Upon arrival, firefighters began an interior attack against the blaze and a search for a husband, wife and their young son believed to be inside, Brady said. As they entered, the flames quickly spread toward the second floor and into the attic. Inside, search teams opened windows to allow the smoke and heat to escape.

It was about eight minutes into the search that a backdraft-inspired fireball blew out through the attic, Brady said.

The term “backdraft” might bring back memories of the 1991 Ron Howard movie in which Chicago firefighters put out and investigate a series of fires ignited by an arsonist. But, Brady said, the term describes when an oxygen-starved fire suddenly receives oxygen, causing an explosion. The sudden rush of oxygen causes superheated gases to ignite simultaneously, creating a fireball.

In this case, the explosion threw firefighters standing at the front door about 20 feet into the front yard, Brady said. Firefighters working the exterior of the house had their helmets blown off and glass shards went flying from exploding windows.

Two firefighters required the attention of paramedics at the scene.

The flames were out about 20 minutes later and no one was found inside the house. It turned out, Brady said, that the mother and her son were out of town and the father wasn’t home.

Much of the $225,000 in damage was in the garage and attic, which did not have sprinklers, he said. The other parts of the newly built home did have sprinklers as required by law in Prince George’s County.

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